Sports Reporter
The playoff season began Tuesday, Oct. 27 for the several central Aroostook County girls soccer teams who qualified for the post-season. Victories in their quarterfinal contests would propel the teams into the semifinal round of the Eastern Maine playoffs, with those games taking place either Friday or Saturday. The undefeated and top-seeded Presque Isle girls took on John Bapst of Bangor yesterday afternoon at the Johnson Athletic Complex in a Class B first-round match. Ashland and Central Aroostook hooked up in a Class D battle between two familiar foes, also on the Presque Isle artificial turf field.
In Class D, Easton and Fort Fairfield were on the road for their quarterfinal games.
A look at the girls soccer teams from the area making it into the post-season follows:
(12-2, second place in Eastern Maine Class D)
Ashland and Southern Aroostook met in last year’s EM ‘D’ championship and it appears they could be on a collision course to square off in the regional finals again this year as they are the top two seeds in the playoffs.
The Hornets of course needed to get past Central Aroostook in yesterday’s quarterfinal to begin their journey through the brackets. Ashland won the lone regular season matchup, by a 3-1 margin in Mars Hill on Oct. 2.
Coach Pete Belskis said his team has had the fortune of staying injury free, which helped the team to its lofty record. Seven starters are back from last year’s EM finalists, including Class D all-star goalie Taylor Baker, who recorded nine shutouts and surrendered just 11 goals all season long.
Rounding out the starting lineup are backs Sam Casey, Whitney Donovan, Mariah Cook and Rylee Graham, midfielders Elana Reynaga, Anna Paradis and Macie Pelkey, and forwards Kayla Cote, Jessica Jimmo and Brooke LaBelle.
Paradis and Donovan are the top defensive players, while Pelkey (11 goals, 10 assists), Jimmo (13/5), LaBelle (11/6) and Cote (6/4) pace the offense.
Belskis expected a tough battle from Central Aroostook. “We have to control the field of play and take advantage of our opportunities when they occur,” he said.
The coach would love another chance to play SA, who recorded 4-2 and 2-0 victories over the Hornets during the regular season.
“These girls seem to rise to the occasion,” Belskis said of his team. “The bigger the game, the harder they play.”
(4-8-2, seventh place in Eastern Maine Class D)
Dave Collins is still waiting for his Central Aroostook Panthers to explode.
The veteran coach said his team is full of potential, but have yet to utilize the talent it possesses. With the post-season now under way, Collins is hoping the time is now.
“This is a good group of girls and are really fun to work with,” Collins said. “If they only realized the potential they have to play this game, the sky is the limit for them.”
He said his team has been guilty of playing to the level of its competition throughout the season. “They just kind of go with the flow, which has allowed them to be in every match and just come up short.”
The Panthers are ranked seventh in EM Class D and faced Ashland in last night’s quarterfinals. Ashland won the only meeting between the two teams earlier this month, 3-1.
“We like our draw,” Collins said. “We feel we can play with them as long as we play for 80 minutes and not just 40 like in our regular season matchup.”
Central Aroostook’s starters are goal keeper Paige Garrison, sweeper Sarah Michaud, wing defenders Olivia Garrison and Rebecca Grass, stopper Shannon Todd, inside midfielders Kristen Long and Ashley Estabrook, wing midfielders Whitney Klein and Brea York and forwards Brittni Mosher and Sarah Grass.
Mosher led the team in goals scored during the campaign, while Long and Estabrook are essential in allowing CA to control the flow of the game through the midfield. Michaud has big shoes to fill on defense with the loss of Racheal Grew to a thigh injury.
Collins is hopeful now that the playoffs have arrived, his Panther squad will start playing up to their capabilities. “Hopefully the playoffs will wake this sleeping giant,” he said.
(9-4-1, fifth place in Eastern Maine Class D)
Forty one. That is the number of days it has been since the Easton Bears have played a soccer game.
Easton traditionally plays its entire regular season schedule prior to the harvest recess, so Sept. 16 was the last time the Bears have stepped onto field for a meaningful contest.
For the last several years, Easton fell short of gaining a playoff spot. That changed this season after the team went 9-4-1 to all but assure a post-season berth. The Bears ended up in the No. 5 position in EM Class D and took on Bangor Christian in yesterday’s quarterfinal. Even with all the time off, coach Rachel Tomlinson said the team was ready to go.
“It has truly amazed me the amount of energy and enthusiasm these girls still have after not having a regular season game for [six weeks],” Tomlinson said. “The girls have been practicing with the same intensity now as they were at the beginning of the season.”
The Bears certainly have the makeup of a playoff team. Their leading scorer, freshman Carla Halvorson, has a whopping 29 goals, while Ariana Babineau is another offensive threat with 17 goals and nine assists to her credit. The defense has been steady and the team’s lone senior, Taylor Burtt, is among the top goalkeepers in Aroostook County.
The other regulars are Kennedy Young, Meghan Frank, Danielle Dudley, Katie Cyr, Brooke Hammond, Brooke Lunney, Mindy Desmond, Sarah Plourde, Abby Poole, Sydney Trask and Samantha Fuller.
Even though Easton fell 10 points short of the No. 4 seed and a home playoff game for the quarterfinals, Tomlinson said that “an opportunity to be in the playoffs is beyond our expectations this season.”
(7-6-1, eighth place in Eastern Maine Class D)
Kerrie Alley has spent seven seasons coaching her Fort Fairfield team’s group of seniors, dating back to her years as the middle school coach. Regardless of the outcome of yesterday’s match against top-seeded and defending state champion Southern Aroostook, it has been an enjoyable season.
“This is a great group of young ladies,” Alley said. “They have good attitudes, a good work ethic and a great sense of humor, and have made it easy to coach.”
Alley said the Tigers dropped a couple close games that led to their No. 8 ranking, but feature a strong goalie in sophomore Katy Donovan, who took time in the off season to work on her skills, which Alley said was a huge benefit to the team.
Seniors Kelsie Wilson and Sarah Hebert and junior Kaitlyn Kinsey and sophomore Danielle Tracy make up the defense, while senior Courtney Churchill and junior Brooke Beaulieu are the top midfielders, with senior Emily Weissman and junior Alyssa Murchison the other halfbacks. Kylie Plourde, the team’s leading scorer, and Lindsey Graves are the forwards. A deep bench has also been a strength of this year’s Tiger squad.
(14-0, first place in Eastern Maine Class B)
The Wildcats are back at it. Coach Ralph Michaud brought his team into the post-season with a perfect record, the No. 1 seed and hopes of reclaiming its Eastern Maine title from a year ago.
The road won’t be easy. In the opening round yesterday, PI played John Bapst, a team that had the Wildcats on the ropes in the first of their two regular season duels before falling, 3-2, in a match played at Bangor Sept. 21. When the two teams met again on Oct. 3, Presque Isle mustered a more comfortable 2-0 home win.
A third meeting with Caribou (who played Gardiner yesterday) could await Presque Isle in the semifinals, while No. 2 and undefeated Winslow is the probably finals opponent. PI knocked off the Black Raiders in last year’s EM championship match.
As the top-ranked team, however, Presque Isle has the luxury of being at home through the regional playoffs. The Wildcats are 19-0-2 on the regular season and 4-1 in the playoffs since beginning play on the artificial turf field in 2007.
“We are very proud to finish the season No. 1,” said Michaud, who is in his 12th season as head coach and has an impressive 155-26-13 record during his career. “I believe the key to our season has been the ability of our younger players to adapt quickly to our philosophy, as well as our senior leadership.”
Presque Isle’s starting 11 includes seniors Jenna Stephenson and Kailee Ireland up front, Kayla Richards (nine goals), Alyssa Huston, Chelsea Nickerson (team-leading 12 goals, nine assists) and Mackenzie Pinette as midfielders, and Amy Grivois, Jodie Buckley, Brooke Long-Postell and Karlee Bernier on defense and Kelsey Park in goal.
Chandler Guerrette (11 goals) gives the Wildcats a big spark off the bench.
Despite going undefeated, the Wildcats found themselves in plenty of tough matches during the regular season, which could be a benefit heading into the playoffs.
“We have a tremendous group of young ladies who have been put to the test this year,” said Michaud, noting eight of the team’s games were decided by two goals or less. “We have showed a lot of character.”
Staff photo/Joseph Cyr
SLIDING TO MAKE A SAVE is Central Aroostook goalie Ashley Estabrook, right, as Ashland’s Kayla Cote anticipates a bobble during the team’s Oct. 2 meeting in Mars Hill. Ashland prevailed, 3-1, and the two teams met again in yesterday’s Eastern Maine Class D quarterfinal played at the Johnson Athletic Complex in Presque Isle.
Staff photo/Joseph Cyr 
SAM FULLER of the Easton Bears gives the ball a boot during a regular season contest at Washburn. Teammate Kennedy Young watches the play. Easton went 9-4-1 during the season and took on Bangor Christian in yesterday’s quarterfinal matchup.
Staff photo/Kevin Sjoberg
KAILEE IRELAND of the Presque Isle Wildcats gets tangled up with a Hermon player during a match played earlier this season. The Wildcats enter the Eastern Maine Class B playoffs as the No. 1 seed with their 14-0 record. They took on John Bapst in a quarterfinal game played at home yesterday afternoon.
